Kevin de Bruyne took a playful swipe at Arsenal fans after the Manchester City midfielder was greeted by a hail of plastic bottles as he made his way off the pitch at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Belgian maestro opened the scoring as Manchester City inflicted a 3-1 win over the side that began the day on top of the table, Arsenal, and was treated with hostility by the home support.
Having made way in the late stages of the game, he was making his way back towards the City dugout when fans began to hurl bottles from the stands in his direction.
But the 31-year-old seemed to see the funny side of things, and simply stared the fans down as he made his way around the pitch, smirking at the disgruntled supporters.
Although he was not thought to have been hurt by the projectiles, he was seen kicking bottles off the pitch as he went. One bottle in particular came close to hitting the midfielder after Pep Guardiola decided it was time to rest his star player.
As he rounded the corner flag, a bottle can be seen aiming for his head, only for De Bruyne to duck out of the way at the last moment to avoid contact with it.
He then continued to be followed by the projectiles on his way to his team-mates and coaches. The Belgian was his side’s star performer on the night that they usurped Arsenal’s hold on top spot in the Premier League.
With City celebrating a huge win, de Bruyne made light of the incident, sharing images of one glass heading his way with the caption, ‘Beer anyone?’ followed by ‘Thanks!’
While the win sees City move to the summit of English football, Arsenal still have a game in hand with the two rivals set to meet again at the Etihad Stadium in April.
De Bruyne and his team-mates will look to hold onto first place when they visit Nottingham Forest in their next match, while Arsenal, who are now four games without a win, face a trip to Aston Villa.
